ORTELIUS, Abraham.
[A pirated edition of the Ortelius Epitome map of Barbary]Barbariae et Biledulgerid, Nova Descriptio.Venice, c.1655. Coloured. 80 x 105mm.A miniature map of Barbary. A second title appears outside the neatline. The map was published in 'Il theatro del mondo', an Italian pirate edition of the Ortelius 'Epitome' miniature atlas. First published in 1598, the publication was revived in 1655, forty years after the last edition of the Dutch original.KOEMAN: Ort 70.
[Ref: 14703]
£65.00
($83 • €74 rates)

DU VAL, Pierre.
[An unusual coastline map of north west Africa]Les Costes des Royaumes de Fez, Alger, Tunis, et Tripoli en Barbarie Suivant les Routiers et Portolans de divers Pilotes.Paris: 1664. Original outline colour. Two sheets conjoined, total 220 x 760mm. Publisher's address erased on plate as published.A map of the Mediterranean coast of Africa from the Strait of Gibraltar to Mistrata in Libya, as well as the Spanish coast to Valencia, with Majorca and Malta. European enclaves are marked in orange, including Tangier, an English possession since 1661, when the Spanish outpost was part of Catherine of Braganza's dowry on her marriage to Charles II. Despite being described by Charles as ''a jewell of immense value in the royal diadem'', it was more of a poisoned chalice: in 1664 a force of 500 English soldiers was ambushed and destroyed by a force of 11,000 Moroccan mujahideen. The costs of fortifying Tangier properly spiralled (to £340,000) and a long blockade in 1680 was the final straw: the garrison systematically destroyed their expensive fortifications and handed over Tangier to Morocco in 1684.
[Ref: 19417]
£280.00
($356 • €318 rates)

BLOME, Richard.
[17th century map of the Barbary Coast of Africa]A Generall Mapp of the Coast of Barbarie, where are the Kingdoms and Estates of Morocco, Fez, Algier, Tunis and Tripolis: Also the Kingdoms, Estates, and Deserts of Barca, Egipt, Libya, Biledulgerid, Segelmesse, and Darha; with the Circumjacent Counteries. By Mounsieur Sanson Geographer to the French King, and Rendered into English, and Illustrated by Richard Blome : By his Majesties Especiall Command.London, 1670. Coloured. Two sheets conjoined, total 345 x 1060mm. Narrow lateral margins as issued.A scarce map of the north African coast, also showing southern Spain, Sicily, the Morea and Crete, southern Turkey and Cyprus. Detail decreases the further south the map shows, with towns replaced with vignette lions, elephants, camels and ostriches. At the time of publication Tangier was a British possession, given to Charles II as part of the dowry when he married Catherine of Braganza, the Portuguse Infanta in 1662. Charles planned to make the town the fortress/gatekeeper to the Mediterranean, the role Gibraltar later took on, but the British were driven from Tangier in 1684. The map was engraved by Francis Lamb for Blome's 'Geographical Description of the Four Parts of the World', the second folio world atlas published in England, first issued in 1669. Along the top of the map is a line of 36 armorials, testament to Blome's skill at raising money by subscription. Among the names are James Compton, 3rd Earl of Northampton and Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire, and Elias Ashmole, whose bequest of books and manuscripts formed the basis of the Ashmolean Museum.
[Ref: 15295]
£900.00
($1,144 • €1,021 rates)

CORONELLI, Vincenzo Maria.
[Djerba]Isola, e Castello di Gerbi...Venice, 1691. 225 x 305mm, set in text.The Tunisian island of Djerba, the largest African island in the Mediterranean. The Barbary pirate Barbarossa used the island as a base for his actions against European ships. Published in the 'Isolario'.
[Ref: 7397]
£200.00
($254 • €227 rates)

CORONELLI, Vincenzo Maria.
[Penon di Velez]Penon di Velez.Venice, 1691. 130 x 170mm, set in text.Plan of the rocky Spanish enclave in North Africa. On verso is a plan of the harbour of Goletta, with Tunis is the background. Published in the 'Isolario'.
[Ref: 7581]
£150.00
($191 • €170 rates)